Gill labels Siraj 'a captain's dream' after dramatic victory at The Oval: 'Every team wants a player like him'

Shubman Gill labeled Mohammed Siraj a “captain’s dream” after the senior pacer starred in India’s dramatic six-run victory over England at The Oval with a nine-wicket match-haul, including a five-for in the second innings. Siraj struck twice in as many overs after England resumed from their overnight score of 339/6, needing another 35 to win with four wickets in hand, before getting rid of Gus Atkinson to seal one of the most memorable triumphs in Indian cricket history .

“When you have good bowlers like Siraj and Prasidh bowling that spell, you know, captaincy seems pretty easy. Bowling a spell doesn’t really… Ball is doing all sorts, you know, they’re making the ball talk. Yes, there was a little bit of pressure on us but I think the way we responded this morning with them coming through with this spell was just magnificent for us,” Gill, who was adjudged India’s Player of the Series by England head coach Brendon McCullum, said during the post-match presentation ceremony.

“He (Siraj) is a captain’s dream. Coming in five Test matches, every ball, every spell that he bowled gave his all out and every captain, every team wants a player like him. We are very fortunate to have him in that team,” India’s new Test No 4 added.

Siraj, who led the Indian attack in their victories at Edgbaston and The Oval in Jasprit Bumrah’s absence, thus finished as the leading wicket-taker in the series with 23 wickets at an average of 32.43.

India were confident of leveling the series ahead of final day, reveals Gill

Gill added that India were fairly confident of pulling off a series-leveling victory ahead of the start of the final day. The visitors were staring at a 3-1 series defeat after Harry Brook and Joe Root slammed centuries and took England past 300 in their chase of a challenging 374-run target with a mammoth 195-run stand for the fourth wicket.

India, however, fought back later in the day with Akash Deep removing Brook to break the partnership and Prasidh striking twice in as many overs shortly before poor light and rain forced the umpires to call play off.

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England still had the upper hand heading into the morning session on the final day with the heavy roller easing out the surface ahead of the start of play and Jamie Overton smashing Prasidh for back-to-back boundaries in the first two deliveries of the day.

“Yeah, we were pretty confident. Even yesterday we knew that they (England) are a little bit under pressure. We just wanted to make sure that they’re feeling the pressure throughout. Pressure makes everyone do things that they don’t want to, and we just wanted to make sure that they’re feeling the pressure throughout the 37 runs that they scored.

“I think the way both the teams played in the entire series, every day coming on day four, day five, and never really knowing which team is going to win… it shows that both the teams came up with their A game and very happy to get on the over the line in this one,” Gill added.

Siraj put India in the driver’s seat by removing Jamie Smith and Overton in successive overs while Prasidh castled Josh Tongue to put India on the verge of victory.

An injured Chris Woakes would then walk out to bat with his left arm in a sling, getting a standing ovation from the crowd on his way to the centre, but his bravery couldn’t save the match for England with Siraj’s brilliance eventually trumping Atkinson’s determined resistance .